Comprises a comprehensive reference source that unifies the entire fields of atomic molecular and optical (AMO) physics, assembling the principal ideas, techniques and results of the field. 92 chapters written by about 120 authors present the principal ideas, techniques and results of the field, together with a guide to the primary research literature (carefully edited to ensure a uniform coverage and style, with extensive cross-references). Along with a summary of key ideas, techniques, and results, many chapters offer diagrams of apparatus, graphs, and tables of data. From atomic spectroscopy to applications in comets, one finds contributions from over 100 authors, all leaders in their respective disciplines. Substantially updated and expanded since the original 1996 edition, it now contains several entirely new chapters covering current areas of great research interest that barely existed in 1996, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, quantum information, and cosmological variations of the fundamental constants. A fully-searchable CD- ROM version of the contents accompanies the handbook.

This is the first volume of textbooks on atomic, molecular and optical physics, aiming at a comprehensive presentation of this highly productive branch of modern physics as an indispensable basis for many areas in physics and chemistry as well as in state of the art bio- and material-sciences. It primarily addresses advanced students (including PhD students), but in a number of selected subject areas the reader is lead up to the frontiers of present research. Thus even the active scientist is addressed. This volume 1 provides the canonical knowledge in atomic physics together with basics of modern spectroscopy. Starting from the fundamentals of quantum physics, the reader is familiarized in well structured chapters step by step with the most important phenomena, models and measuring techniques. The emphasis is always on the experiment and its interpretation, while the necessary theory is introduced from this perspective in a compact and occasionally somewhat heuristic manner, easy to follow even for beginners.

This introduction to Atomic and Molecular Physics explains how our present model of atoms and molecules has been developed over the last two centuries both by many experimental discoveries and, from the theoretical side, by the introduction of quantum physics to the adequate description of micro-particles. It illustrates the wave model of particles by many examples and shows the limits of classical description. The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with atoms and molecules and its potential for spectroscopy is outlined in more detail and in particular lasers as modern spectroscopic tools are discussed more thoroughly. Many examples and problems with solutions are offered to encourage readers to actively engage in applying and adapting the fundamental physics presented in this textbook to specific situations. Completely revised third edition with new sections covering all actual developments, like photonics, ultrashort lasers, ultraprecise frequency combs, free electron lasers, cooling and trapping of atoms, quantum optics and quantum information.

Semiconductor Quantum Dots presents an overview of the background and recent developments in the rapidly growing field of ultrasmall semiconductor microcrystallites, in which the carrier confinement is sufficiently strong to allow only quantized states of the electrons and holes. The main emphasis of this book is the theoretical analysis of the confinement induced modifications of the optical and electronic properties of quantum dots in comparison with extended materials. The book develops the theoretical background material for the analysis of carrier quantum-confinement effects, introduces the different confinement regimes for relative or center-of-mass motion quantization of the electron-hole-pairs, and gives an overview of the best approximation schemes for each regime. A detailed discussion of the carrier states in quantum dots is presented and surface polarization instabilities are analyzed, leading to the self-trapping of carriers near the surface of the dots. The influence of spin-orbit coupling on the quantum-confined carrier states is discussed. The linear and nonlinear optical properties of small and large quantum dots are studied in detail and the influence of the quantum-dot size distribution in many realistic samples is outlined. Phonons in quantum dots as well as the influence of external electric or magnetic fields are also discussed. Last but not least the recent developments dealing with regular systems of quantum dots are also reviewed. All things included, this is an important piece of work on semiconductor quantum dots not to be dismissed by serious researchers and physicists.

This graduate-level text presents the fundamental physics of solid-state lasers, including the basis of laser action and the optical and electronic properties of laser materials. After an overview of the topic, the first part begins with a review of quantum mechanics and solid-state physics, spectroscopy, and crystal field theory; it then treats the quantum theory of radiation, the emission and absorption of radiation, and nonlinear optics; concluding with discussions of lattice vibrations and ion-ion interactions, and their effects on optical properties and laser action. The second part treats specific solid-state laser materials, the prototypical ruby and Nd-YAG systems being treated in greatest detail; and the book concludes with a discussion of novel and non-standard materials. Some knowledge of quantum mechanics and solid-state physics is assumed, but the discussion is as self-contained as possible, making this an excellent reference, as well as useful for independent study.

Papers written during the last 40 years by Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and his collaborators on various physical effects which can be observed on atoms interacting with electromagnetic fields.